Improvement in catamenial sacks



PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1865,

E. L. PERRY.

OATAMENIAL SACK.

Inveniar.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD L. PERRY, OF YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lN CATAMENIAL SACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,915, dated September 12, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. PERRY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Gatamenial Sacks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, form-v mg part of this specification.

Catamenial sacks and other such appliances heretofore devised for the use of females at certain periods have pll lacked some essential feature, which has prevented their introduction into general use, and therefore the old habit of wearing bandages or cloths, is still in. use, for the reason, as .before stated, that all,

catamenial sacks or. other like appliances for receiving and retaining the menstrual discharges of the female have been wanting in some particular, either they did not perfectly catch the catamenia, or they did not perfectly retain the same'when caught, so as to preclude the possibility of any particle thereof escaping upon the clothes of the wearer.

The object, therefore, of my invention is to provide a catamenial-sack which will possess the qualities of surely and perfectly catching the catamenia, and without the possibility of any part thereof escaping upon the clothes of the female, aud whose provisions for the insertion in and removal from of the substances used for absorbing the discharges is so ample that no trouble or embarrassment will be given to the wearer andit consists inthe formation of a rubber or gutta-percha pouch, somewhat like a canoe in form, and with a lapel or wing,

which is intended to lie on the thighs inside of the drawers, and thus prevent any particle of the fluid from getting upon the same, or

' uponany other portion of the female wearingapparal.

In theaccompanyin g drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing my invention applied to the persouot' a female. Figure 2 is a front view of the sack; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken in the line a7 as, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

These sacks are made of gutta-percha, in dia-rubber, or the like; and the body A is formed by taking two flat pieces of rubber or gutta percha, cut in an elliptical form, and of a sufficient length, and folding them orcreasing each piece through the center longitudinally. The halves thus creased present the 7 form of acrescent, and two of theconvex edges are joined together in the usual way of uniting gutta-percha or india-rubber. .The outer ends are carried out into straps a, or the pouch has straps attached to it. Said straps are to be buckled or attached to a belt or any suitable appliance, fastened around the waist of the female, in front and behind, which secures the sack in proper position, as shown in Fig. 1. The pouch has its entire front open-that is to say, its mouth extends its entirelength, as shown in Fig. 2.

BB represent the lapels or wings, one on each side, and of any desirable depth or width. When the sack is properly adjusted on the female, as shown in Fig. 1, the lapels or wings will fall against the thighs and lie close to her person for their entirelen th,which effectually prevents the discharges f 0111 escaping over the.

sides of thepouch upon the drawers or clothes of the female.

I prefer using gutta-percha for the sack, as this substance will not be affected by heat and' it has no smell. s

The lapels may be made separate and attached to the pouch in any suitable way, instead ofbeing a part of one of the pieces or halves composing the sack; and indeed the I pouch itself may be made of one piece, of an elliptical shape, and folded through the center longitudinally, to giveit the desired canoe-like shape. \Vhen the sack is to be used a'moistcued sponge large enough for the purpose is placed in the sack, and the sack is placed between the thighs and buckled up taut before and behind, so that the sponge will be directly over the vulva, and thus it will catch every particle of the menstrual discharge. And it will be noticed that the-cauoe-like shape of the pouch would catch any escaping portion of the fluid, should the sponge become accidentally removed from the vulva, and conduct the same to the sponge, where it will be ab sorbed.

The sponge can, of course, be removed by merely unbuckling the front strap of the sack and rinsed out and again inserted; or, should this operation be d sagreeable, it can be thrown away or some other less-expensive substance, such as cotton-batting, may be used, which a feature of which was patented December 20,

1864;) but I know of none having the shape of mine -that is to say, they have been made of an oval or nearly' hemispherical form, and are merely bags, so to speak, for holding an absorbing substance, such as a sponge. In such sacks no provision is made for catching the menstrual discharge should the sack be accidentally pushed aside orcrowded away from its position directlyunder the vulva, andthe fluid would flow down upon the clothes of the .female; but. by making the sack of a canoe-' like shape and an opening or mouth for its entire. length this cannot occur. Again, should .thefemale unconsciously press her thighs very tightly together, the fluid in the sponge would be caused toooze out,-and it would run over :the top ofthe sack upon the clothes of the wearer; but with mine this will not occur, for

.the fluid, instead of having a tendency to rush over the top of the sack, would ooze out laterally, so tospeak, and run up the sack on each side of the sponge, and, so soon as the pressure be taken away, would run back and'be absorbed by-the sponge. And'again, the form of my sack obviates the necessity of so particular an adjustment under the vulva as with 111086 alluded to, forthe reason that its mouth or'opening is ample enough to cover the whole space between the thighs and for a considerable distance up in front and behind, and the sponge, though it may not be directly under the vulva, will receive all the fluid which may fall into the pouch.-

I am not awarethat any catamenial sack yet made has had lapels or wings, such as I have shown, attached to it for precluding entirely the possibility of any portion of the discharge from escaping upon the clothes of the female; and this I' claim to be an essential advantage, for byits usethe drawers and clothes of the female may be kept in an .untainted and unsoiled condition during, the whole time that she may be unwell.

No uneasiness whatever is experienced by the female when wearing a sack constructed according to my invention, and the value of an article of this kind which will perform its functions, perfectly and surely can hardly be estimated.

1 do not claim, broadly, a catame'nial sack made of india-rubber or of any other material;

-but a 1' do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent- Formingwith or attaching to a catamcnial sack lapels or wings, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

EDWARD L. PERRY. Witnesses:

n. LAZELL, M. M. LIVINGSTON. 

